Earlier this week, I ran a session with Year 5 talking about Young Carers. We looked at what a Young Carer was and what it meant to be a Young Carer.
A Young Carer is a child aged 17 and under who carries out significant caring tasks and assumes a level of responsibility for another person which would normally be taken by an adult.
Young Carers may look after one or both parents, siblings or other members of the family, who may need help due to a physical disability, illness, substance misuse or due to their mental wellbeing. Young Carers may carry out a variety of tasks from domestic chores to shopping, looking after siblings, personal care and emotional support. This can often impact on their education and so we, at St Andrews, are adopting a proactive approach in order to be able to identify Young Carers early so that they can get the support that they need.
As part of the session with Year 5, we looked at the different ways in which Young Carers can be supported, both by ourselves and other agencies. In Salford, there is an organisation called Salford Young Carers, which offers support to Young Carers in the area, ranging from 1:1 support to group sessions and special trips out. This can be very useful as it gives Young Carers the opportunity to meet others in similar positions and take some time out to have fun.
If you think you are a Young Carer, or you think you may know someone who is, then there is plenty of help and support available. You can speak to me, Grace Thomas, at school, or you can find further help and information on these websites:
http://www.salfordyoungcarers.org/
http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/
A big thank you to Year 5 for all their thoughtful insights and contributions!
